Cynthia Nixon Might Run for NY Governor

Actress Cynthia Nixon appears to be getting serious about challenging Andrew Cuomo for New York governor. The Sex and the City star has for weeks been rumored to be interested in the job, but new developments suggest there's merit to the rumors. She's met, for instance, with two former top advisers to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who specialize in engaging the Democratic left; Nixon supported de Blasio in the 2013 mayoral race, reports the New York Times. She's also been seen out with a camera crew. But the "best evidence yet" of a possible run, according to the New York Post, is that Nixon's wife, Christine Marinoni, just left her job as a special adviser for community partnerships at NYC's Department of Education, a move that would allow her to campaign for Nixon; she had held the $131,000-a-year job for nearly four years.

If elected, the longtime education activist would be the first female and first openly gay governor of New York, per the Guardian. It'll be a hard fight to get to that point, but some argue Cuomo's airing of recent endorsements and a $100,000 TV ad show that he's already preparing for an intense Democratic primary in September. Regardless, "I'm not nervous about whoever runs," Cuomo said Wednesday. A day later, he won the endorsement of the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women. Cuomo is the "best candidate hands down" and has been "putting forward a woman's agenda every year," branch CEO Sonia Ossorio tells the Observer. "Nixon's ruminations about running hasn't lit anybody's fire necessarily," Ossorio adds. "So many people are skeptical about the idea of celebrity politicians." (More Cynthia Nixon stories.)